'Jobs, baby, jobs'

by: Carnacki

Mon Oct 13, 2008 at 16:04:34 PM EDT

Because today, while Palin and McCain focus on debunked smears of Obama and try to get their campaign back on track, Obama announced a sweeping response to the economic problems that will help middle class working people and those in distress from the economic downturn.

TOLEDO - Senator Barack Obama on Monday expanded his economic platform, including proposals to spur new jobs, to give Americans penalty-free access to retirement savings to help them through the downturn, to urge a 90-day moratorium on home foreclosures and to lend money to strapped local and state governments.

"We need to give people the breathing room they need to get back on their feet," Mr. Obama said in an afternoon speech here at the Sea Gate Convention Centre before a crowd of more than 3,000 people.

Mr. Obama called on Congress to double by another $25 billion the government loan guarantees for automakers and to temporarily eliminate taxes on unemployment benefits.

Campaign advisers said those steps and several others could be taken before January through current laws or by the Democratic-controlled Congress acting in a lame-duck session.

Mr. Obama outlined his revised plan in Toledo, a struggling city that is representative of the economic crisis and the battle for industrial-belt swing states that could determine the winner of the Nov. 4 election. He is spending three days in northwestern Ohio, sequestered with an advisers to prepare for the third presidential debate on Wednesday.

In a 30-minute address here, Mr. Obama also called on Americans to embrace a new "ethic of responsibility." His speech was supplemented with visions of optimism, but conceded that tough times faced the nation in the coming months and years.

"I won't pretend this will be easy," Mr. Obama said. "George Bush has dug a deep hole for us. It's going to take a while for us to dig our way out. We're going to have to set priorities as never before."

McCain sought to come up with an economic plan, but rejected those from his advisors as "too gimmicky." Considering this comes from the same John McCain who "suspended" his campaign only to keep it going, their proposals must boggle the imagination for him to have called them "too gimmicky."

But I'm sure he offered a vision to a better future, right? I mean since Mr. Keating 5 with his constant pushing of deregulation and his voting with George W. Bush 95 percent of the time helped create the problem, surely McCain will want to be at the forefront in offering solutions for voters.

"These are hard times, my friends," Mr. McCain said. "Our economy is in crisis. Financial markets are collapsing. Credit is drying up. Your savings are in danger and your retirement is at risk. Jobs are disappearing."

Oh.

So to compare: we have one candidate with specific proposals to help the economy and the middle class and one that offers fear and despair for everyone.

Call me crazy, but I'm voting for "That One."